At the Dumb Friends League, we understand that the decision to surrender an animal can be challenging and painful. To help ease the process, our team provides compassionate assistance and resources, like the ones listed below.
Thank you for trusting us with the care of your animal.
Socially Concious Sheltering
The League is a Socially Conscious Shelter committed to creating the best possible outcomes for all animals. We provide safe shelter, nourishment, and loving care to vulnerable companion animals across our community.
As a Socially Conscious Shelter, the League assesses the health and behavior of every animal in our care and makes appropriate treatment and placement decisions based on those assessments. We humanely euthanize animals who are suffering, whose health compromises their quality of life, or who may likely pose safety risks to people or other animals in the community.
We encourage you to explore all other available resources or rehoming options before deciding to surrender your pet. Once an animal is relinquished, our team will be busy taking care of their needs and will be unable to provide ongoing updates about their journey. Relinquishment is a final decision, and you should not expect that the pet will be available to be returned to you once they have been surrendered to our care
Pet surrender
Our goal is to find a loving home for every healthy and safe animal. We achieve this by gathering information about the pets who come into our shelters during the surrender process, so please be prepared to share everything you know about the animal. We are proud to have placed more than 18,000 animals last year.
We strongly recommend an appointment for all dog surrenders. Dog surrenders without an appointment will be accommodated as space allows.
Pets previously adopted from the League are accepted at any time without an appointment.
If you must surrender your pet, please bring the following:
- PET RECORDS – Bring a copy of your pet’s vaccination and veterinary records with you when you surrender.
- BEHAVIOR INFORMATION – Be prepared to discuss your pet’s daily habits, needs, and behaviors.
- SAFE TRANSPORTATION – Be sure that dogs are on leashes and cats or other small animals are in carriers.
- SURRENDER FEE – $25*
*No pet will be turned away due to an owner’s inability to pay.
Locations and scheduling
Leslie A. Malone Center
2080 S. Quebec St.
Denver, CO 80231
Dumb Friends League Buddy Center™
4556 Castleton Ct.
Castle Rock, CO 80109
San Luis Valley Animal Center
701 Airport Rd.
Alamosa, CO 81101
Pet resources
If your pet is experiencing a challenging behavior, we may be able to help you resolve the issue, so you can keep them in your home. Check out our Pet Resource Center and, if you need further assistance, please consider contacting our Behavior Helpline before surrendering your pet.
Schedule a Behavior Helpline appointment
Subsidized care
If your pet is ill or injured and cost is an issue, the League offers subsidized veterinary care services at our Veterinary Hospital at CSU Spur. We also provide accessible wellness exams and vaccinations at our regular pop-up clinics across metro Denver.
Pet food banks
If the cost of feeding your pet is making it difficult to keep them in your home, there are local resources available to support you. Our partners at Colorado Pet Pantry offer monthly pet food banks across the state, where people can receive free pet food every other month (as supplies last).
Wildlife and exotic pets
There are some species of wildlife or exotic pets that we are not able to place. For animals who are not companion animals and do not have other placement or release options, a shelter is not ideal, and humane euthanasia may be the only outcome we can provide in those instances.